Weird Magic

Preamble to War

So it begins. The marshalling rally today went well. The militia numbers are better than expected and their fervor for battle, after Durkik Forgeheart’s compelling words, is at an all time high. As they begin their march to the walls of Bordrin’s Watch, I pray to Moradin that their lives may be spared and that they may return soon.

I have the utmost confidence that the tunnels below the Stonehome Mountains will be sealed before the main Orc forces can get through.

Meagan Swiftbladeand her Freeriders have been tasked with sealing the tunnels directly below Bordrin’s Watch. As this is directly under our main force I doubt the Orcs will attempt to infiltrate here. In the event there are no signs for Orc infiltrators, the Freeriders are first to proceed directly through the tunnels into the Orc held lands, reconnoiter the situation there and then upon their return seal the tunnels. A difficult task, but they may be able to gather additional information that could tip the scales of war our way.

That damn Edgar Sommerfieldand his group the Farstriders met with me earlier in the day and petitioned for the most difficult of the two tunnel missions left. I was tempted to deny his petition just to spite him, but given our other options, he and his group are the best choice. They are to enter the Vents, navigate the immense natural labirynth, and make contact with the Dwarven sect from the Monastary of the Sundered Chain that guard the Vent tunnels. If the Vents have already been infiltrated, as our spies have believe they have, the Farstriders will force their way through to the Nexus and seal the tunnels themselves.

Unbeknownst to most, Sommerfield also petitioned on behalf of a hodge-podge group of inexperienced adventurers for the third tunnel mission. I don’t know why he would do this, as it is out of character for him, but he did. And just as he said would happen, when the task was presented to the remaining Adventuring Groups, they were the first to volunteer for the mission. They are certainly stout of heart. As this is really not much more than a messenger task, I actually believe Sommerfield was trying to keep this group out of harms way – could the brave, coldhearted warrior have a soft spot for this inexperience group of adventurers?

All they have to do is travel to the Monastary of the Sundered Chain and advise the monks there that they need to seal the tunnels below. There is no intelligence stating these tunnels have been discovered, but we don’t want to take a chance. We provided the group with transport, a few horses and a buckboard wagon; one of the group claims horses do not do well with her; however it may actually be the other way around. Either way, they started off this morning.

Held up in Brindol

Day 1:

Arrived in Brindol today. Plan on a two day stop over to rest and replenish supplies for remainder of trip to Overlook. The Red Door appears to be a good place for us to stay. The innkeep recognized our Adventuring Company right away – this seems to be a more and more common occurrence and I like it. Such notoriety for the Farstriders should help with business and thus our purses.

Day 2:

Much talk that other Adventuring Companies are in Brindol also heeding the call from Overlook to help with the Orc Hordes that are marching toward the Stonehome Mountains. May have to leave sooner than originally planned. I want to make sure we arrive in Overlook before the other Adventuring Companies, especially before Swiftblade and her Freeriders. Will talk to Jen and get her advise on the matter. Sent Uulath and Reiner out for supplies. They weren’t happy about it as they were expecting a day of leave, but they did as they were told.

Day 3:

Find ourselves in the wild lands northeast of Brindol. We are tracking a group of goblins that attacked Brindol prior day evening. From what I can gather they attacked in multiple locations with intent on reeking devastation and to draw attention from their primary objective – the Hall of Great Valor. As soon as the attack occurred, I ordered the Farstriders to the roof tops to reconnoiter the situation. We quickly discovered the primary group of goblins as they moved to the Hall of Great Valor. We began pursuit via the roof tops until we came upon a group of what appeared to be a young and inexperienced group of adventurerlings fighting a bomb throwing Ogre and a couple of Hobgoblins. Uulath, Reiner and myself stopped and were able to destroy the Ogre with a well shot fire arrow that ignited the Ogres’ reserve of bombs – I must say it was a bit humorous to see the adventurerlings scatter like mice right before the explosions started. By the time we got to the Hall of Great Valor, the goblins had already ransacked the place and were retreating to the northwestern bridges to make their escape. We have been tracking them ever since.

Day 4:

I am torn. I so want to go on to Overlook. If Swiftblade gets there first she’ll certainly get an audience with the Council and be given the best of the primary tasks for Council’s strategy in defeating the Orc hordes. After sneaking up to the goblin camp, Uulath and Reiner reported the goblins took prisoners as well as some artifacts from the Hall of Great Valor. They have since lead us to the ruins of Castle Rivenroar and have gone into a cave that I believe to be their home lair. We are going in after them with the intent of saving the prisoners and recovering the artifacts.

Day 5:

I hate to admit it, but I greatly underestimated the situation we were getting ourselves into. The goblin’s lair was actually a huge underground complex that was built under Castle Rivenroar. The complex was haunted by a group of undead soldiers cursed to roam the halls of the complex for eternity. The goblin leader, Sinruth, struck a bargain with the undead. For use of the complex, and the undead’s protection, Sinruth would provide living sacrifices to them – thus the need for taking prisoners. The artifacts stolen from the Hall of Great Valor all appear to be historical remnants from the war with the Red Hand. The one called Sinruth had planned on building a new army once again under the banner of the Red Hand. The stolen items would have proven useful as tools of inspiration in recruiting his army. But thanks to the Farstriders such plans will never come to fruition. Sinruth is now dead, those cursed to haunt the halls have been vanquished. We have only now to return to Brindol with the surviving prisoners and the stolen artifacts. Further, I will need to report to the Council that a third party was involved in this goblin uprising (if one wants to call it that). One called the Emissary was working closely with Sinruth to inspire him and his army to attack Brindol. As to who this Emissary is or why he is involved we are unsure, but such worries are for the Council of Brindol. I just want to get this over with and get on to Overlook.

Day 6:

We were struggling to make good time. The prisoners were battered and weary. One was infected with filth fever, and we were continually having to stop and rest. Fortunately we happened upon that same group of adventurerlings from the other day. They were engrossed in a battle with a cave bear. They appeared to be desperately struggling with the bear, so I ordered Corben to charge in and dispatch the creature. Of course the twins, trying to steal Corben’s glory once again, shot the bear before he could kill it. The adventurelings seemed a bit put off with our killing the bear so cleanly and efficiently, but were quick to befriend our group. Though not very good in battle, they were very useful in healing and nursing the prisoners. With such nursemaids at our disposal, we were able to quickly return to Brindol.

Day 7:

Four days! The Freeriders left 4 days ago. The Freeriders are probably already in Overlook and preparing for their first mission. I have demanded an early audience with the Council so we may leave later this morning for Overlook. The adventurelings (I kind of like that name for them) that dedicated themselves to our glorious mission, made mention of going on to Overlook also. I pray they do not as I take no pleasure in such as these marching off to their deaths.